Tuesday, May 29, 2012

7 Things That Make Me Cranky About Websites

1. The 5W's. Didn't we all learn this in elementary school or something? (Apparently not.) So, I want to know who you are. This should be listed under something obvious like who or about or what have you. If you are a widget maker and I followed this link thinking you were a famous author I should be able to tell the difference. Quickly. Without hunting. 2. So, okay fine. What basically is covered for most websites in the who. But if you are a thing that is not entirely obvious, say you are called Widget Makers, but really that's only part of your mission, tell me the rest. Somewhere. Please. 3. When. If you have events, I want to know when they are. If you make me call you or sign up for your newsletter or do some other gymnastics, nine times out of ten, I will assume your event cannot really be that cool and I will click away. 4. When (again) are you open? Are there exceptions to this like certain federal holidays? There is nothing more sad than showing up somewhere to discover that despite the website saying they were open, they are not. 5. Where. Where are you? This should ideally be on the very first page, so that if I am googling for you on my mobile device I do not have to figure out what cleverness you his this info under. (Directions might be nice too.) 6. Why, fine, why we can skip. (See four W's. Even easier.) But let's look at things like what to expect. So, if I head to your event or show up to buy a widget, what's that like. (If the answer is come in, grab widget, buy widget, leave, then fine, I probably don't need to know that.) Should I bring something(s) with me? What forms of payment do you accept? 7. And if you don't actually sell the widgets that you make, where (again) can I buy them? (Don't you dare tell me fine stores everywhere. Give me specifics.)